St. John's Triumphs In Overtime

Buchanan's Free Throw Stings Yellow Jackets

December 06, 1990|By DAVE FAIRBANK Staff Writer

LANDOVER, MD. — It was fitting that a basketball game this ragged and uneven was decided by "a subway nudge."

Jason Buchanan's free throw with 3.7 seconds left in overtime gave St. John's the game's final point, and the clock ran out on Georgia Tech as the Redmen pulled out a 73-72 victory in the ACC-Big East Challenge series Wednesday night at the Capital Centre.

"You can be very kind when you win a ball game like this," St. John's coach Lou Carnesecca said. "Thank God the clock ran out."

It didn't run out fast enough for Georgia Tech's Ivano Newbill. The 6-foot-9 redshirt freshman fouled Buchanan at midcourt as Buchanan raced upcourt for a final shot attempt.

"The last thing we wanted to do was foul in that situation," said Tech coach Bobby Cremins, whose Yellow Jackets overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to force overtime, despite a dismal shooting performance.

Matt Geiger's tap-in of a Kenny Anderson miss at the regulation buzzer tied the score at 60 and forced overtime. Anderson's two free throws with 6.2 seconds left in overtime tied the score again at 72.

St. John's (4-0) inbounded the ball to Buchanan and he raced up the right sideline with every intention of going as far as he could before either making a pass or taking the shot himself.

"With six seconds left you can't be a genius," Carnesecca said, when asked if he considered calling a timeout. "You give the ball to the fastest guy and everybody get the hell out of the way. We were lucky that guy fouled him."

Carnesecca's description of the pivotal final sequence: Newbill, said the venerable New Yorker, "tried to come over and tip the ball and impede his progress. It was a little bit of a subway nudge."

That the game got to overtime was an oddity in itself.

Malik Sealy, the Redmen's superb junior forward, scored 14 of his game-high 28 points in the first seven minutes of the second half, and St. John's built a 54-43 lead with 8:22 remaining.

And Georgia Tech (2-2) was miserable on offense in the process. The Jackets usually take their cue from Anderson, and the wondrous point guard struggled through one of his worst shooting games. He hit only 5-of-20 shots from the field, and the Yellow Jackets were equally inept.

Tech missed 15 of its first 18 shots and managed just two field goals in a 14:40 span of the second half.

"I'm disappointed with our offense," Cremins said. "We've really got some things we have to work on."

St. John's allowed the Yellow Jackets back into the game. Carnesecca called a timeout with 9:17 left in regulation and the Redmen leading 51-43. They became tentative on offense afterward and did not score another field goal in regulation.

"We lost our rhythm," Carnesecca said. "We were looking too much instead of playing. In a 40-minute game, you're going to have periods like that."

Georgia Tech had an excellent chance to steal the game in overtime when Sealy fouled out with 2:12 to play. But center Robert Werdann scored six of his 15 points in the overtime and the Redmen hit 8-of-9 free throws in OT, capped by Buchanan's game-winner.

Anderson raced upcourt after Buchanan missed the second free throw, but didn't come close to getting off a shot before the buzzer.

The 6-1 sophomore had only two field goals in the first 37 minutes of the game and showed only a few momentary flashes of his playmaking ability.

Cremins said he thinks the expectations surrounding Anderson have affected his play so far.